Testimonial

Uerijeta Kuhanga, weltwärts participant from Namibia

Photo: Uerijeta Kuhanga

AGYI: Uerijeta, what can you tell me about yourself?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I’m 30 years old and from Herero, Namibia. I was working for the Namibian Red Cross Society for more than five years. Now I am doing a voluntary exchange program, it is part of the weltwärts program. I’m working in Gelsenkirchen at a refugee camp.

AGYI: How did you learn about weltwärts? When was the first time you got in contact with weltwärts?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: With a friend, I got to know this through the Namibian red cross society. They told me that there is a possibility to do an exchange program with Germany.

AGYI: How did you decide to take part in this exchange program? What went through your head?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: You know, when I was seeing the German volunteers that came to Namibia: they were so open minded. They were young but having the knowledge. I was getting a push, and asking myself where those people are getting the knowledge from. But when I was asking them they were always saying, “One time you should go to Germany, because it is not easy to talk or explain it to you, but once you see it then you will experience it and you will see it by yourself.“

AGYI: How did your preparations look like for this journey? Was it easy? How much time did you need to prepare it?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: For preparation, once I was sure I wanted to do it, I had to go to Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, to apply for the visa for our stay in Germany. The German volunteers in Namibia gave us information about Germany. We got a clue how different Germany is from Namibia, what can we expect when we arrive in Germany. And at the same time we were encouraging the new volunteers from Germany which were coming to Namibia.

AGYI: How did you perceive these preparations? Was this useful for you?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: It was really good, everything was better, because these preparations was not only for us, it was also a preparation for the German volunteers who went to Namibia in a collaboration between the Namibian and the German red cross.

AGYI: What kind of image did you have of Germany? What expectations did you have?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: You know, people are talking about expectations. People really want to see things with good results, you know? But me, I really wanted to grow up in knowledge, because I knew, Germany is in another continent, that is a developed continent compared to Namibia. So, I had only one mission, to grow in terms of knowledge.

AGYI: And what image did you have about Germans and Germany?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I worked in Namibia for German tourist as a translator for them, most of the tourist that came to Namibia, especially to the region where I come from are Germans. It may have been the first time in Germany, but it is not the first time that I have had contact and a conversation with German people. That is how I had a little idea of how it was going to be.

AGYI: When did you arrive in Germany?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I arrived on the 11th of September of 2016.

AGYI: You only have been here for a few months. How was that moment when you arrived? Maybe you can tell me a bit about your first days in Germany?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: My first days in Germany, when we arrived everything was well organized, I cannot really complain or say something was bad, because everything was just like perfect and on time. The first thing that came to my mind was, „Yeah. Welcome to Germany“. Because, in Namibia, are not always punctual. When I came from Münster, were we had the first days of preparation, when we started to travel with the busses, you are new in a place, and they give you a ticket and you have to travel with people that you don’t even know. And when you are waiting for the bus, in Namibia it is normal when people say „Hello, how are you?“ to you. But here, even if you say „hallo“, only some will respond and some just look at you and say „What?“ That’s it.

On my first days, when I started to use the bus I sat down on the bench, and a few people stood up and preferred to stand. They were not the younger people, it was the older people, the elders.

They stood up, and they were holding their shopping bags closer to them. I was thinking „Ah okay, maybe the heard something that black people take more often other people’s things“.

AGYI: So, it was not a nice first experience for you.

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I just kept it down and said ok. But the next day I was wearing a red cross pullover, I was talking to some young people in the bus, because they were asking me where I’m from and how did I come to work for the red cross. It is easier to engage with the youth rather than with the elders. I talked to them and tried to explain how I came here, and the elder were just looking rather ironically amused (laughter). Then one of the elders asked the young ones what we were talking about, in German. And the young were trying to explain to them. One of the elders remembered what she did the day before (holding their things closer to them) and apologized for that. Now everything is fine, no problem.

AGYI: And when you see them nowadays, do they say hello to you now?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Yes, even if I prefer to stand they say: “Here is a place for you, sit down” (laughter). Now everything is back to normal.

I don’t blame them. Because maybe something bad happened to them, and that is why they are reacting like that. For me, it was only to play my part, and show them that I am not what they think I am.

AGYI: Do you have any kind of seminars?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Yes, we have seminars. Where we also discuss about this stereotypes, and how hard it is to convince these people that we are not bad.

AGYI: You told me that you had some problems with the language. How is your German now? Do you speak already a little bit of German or hardly?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Although I’m going to German classes, I’m learning more from the German people, especially from the young people. Also at our arrival we had a ten-day presentation of the language. This really helped me a lot, I’m connecting word after word to make a sentence.

AGYI: Maybe you can tell me a bit about your work at the refugee camp. How is your daily life? How does a typical day of yours look like at work?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I’m working at a temporary refugee camp, not at a permanent refugee camp. The people there only stay a few months. Last week we transferred the last refugees, which arrived in July, to a permanent refugee camp. This temporary camp is not really a proper camp. It is only provisional. It is an old school-building, so you can only stay there for a short time. It is not prepared to live there for a longer period.

AGYI: What are your experiences in the refugee camp?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: When you work at a refugee camp you meet people which don’t speak your language. So, every person or family comes from a different country, with a different culture and you must respect those people’s culture. And then a point comes, where you say, ok, they don’t speak English or German, they only speak their language, and you are there to help them. You must find a way to communicate with them in order to help them. Sometimes we speak with our hands and feet, more than with words. That was the main issue for me. For me it was an experience. People were maybe from Uganda, Ghana or Nigeria. People, that are African like me. When I arrived at the camp, there was no African people working there, only German or Turkish people. So, when I arrived they were open with me, because I am an African. Everything they needed, even if didn’t have anything to do with, they only were calling me. I wonder who they were calling for before I came here. My chef said, since I’m here, the people come outside their rooms even if they don’t need anything, just to have a talk with me. Before that, they only went outside their rooms when they needed something and then returned. This was especially hard for the people who are not used to do the first move, once there is someone who can start a conversation, you feel a change happening, they are opening their mind.

AGYI: That is great, so when you arrived, you made it possible for people to open up and start getting in touch with each other?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Exactly. And my colleagues said, now they are opening because you are speaking an African language, it is not about the language only. Some people are shy to talk to other persons, so you must find the way to remove their shyness.

AGYI: I guess you made friends, too?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Not some, a lot! Because even now, after they got transferred to another camp, we are still in touch which each other. Calling each other, advising and trying to put the name of the African countries on the map.

AGYI: How does your typical day look like? What is your duty at the refugee camp? What are you responsible for?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: These people were not allowed to cook for themselves, they are getting three meals a day. My task was giving them 3 packages a day with food, and items like shampoo, toothpaste, soap, etc. Also, try to give them proper clothes for the winter, shoes, jackets. Also, I played with them soccer, volleyball, just trying to distract them.

AGYI: Will that be you job during the next nine months too? Or is it going to change?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: My job is going to change from January on. I now have to experience another challenge, because now I must work at the emergency refugee camp.

It is for the DRK, and they have a project that you can call if someone hurts himself, like a first aid group.

AGYI: Can you tell me a bit about your perception about German hospitality?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Hospitality has two or three meanings, If I am cooking for myself, this is also hospitality. Second, in Germany it’s like fifty fifty helping each other. In Namibia, to cook is for women, now here in Germany there is no women job or man job. They are equal, welcome to Germany. That is the hospitality I learned so far, I’m getting used to it and I adapt.

AGYI: What does the intercultural experience mean to you?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: To me, I think...Good question! (he laughs) It is like a relationship between two nations. The way we do things in my culture, where I am from, maybe because I’m a Herero and we believe in the holy fire where we can talk to our ancestors. And then you meet the Germans, they are having their own way of doing things.

AGYI: What do you learn from this relationship?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I learned to respect my culture, because the Germans respect it too. I learned about the behaviour, their lifestyle and how to combine both cultures. It definitely changed me.

AGYI: What is different between these two cultures?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Germans are not good at explaining, but they are good at showing it. They could explain it perfectly in German, but not in English, so they show what they mean to me. If you want to experience a culture, you must go there, it just cannot be explained that easily. Hearing something is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes.

AGYI: Do you agree that an exchange program, like you are doing, is something very valuable for everyone involved? Would you recommend it to other people, Germans or Africans?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Definitely, it can be good on changing the perception of their own point of view. You exchange ideas and thoughts with young African or German people. To try to create something for the next generation about intercultural perception. In 2011 we proposed this exchange program to the DRK Youth program, because we were learning a lot from the German volunteers which go to Namibia, so it should be really good for us, the Namibian youth, to go to Germany, learn there, and then go back and teach in Namibia what we have learned and experienced. If you build a house, you cannot finish in the same day, you have to go step by step.

AGYI: Would you recommend this exchange program to other young people then?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: Definitely, yes. Because programs like these help us to develop as a nation. People should not believe in stereotypes, they should share what they have with the poor, and use the advantages they have to learn through travelling.

AGYI: If you could also give a recommendation to a politician who is in charge of the youth program what would you say?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: I think they should support even more this exchange program. It is a good way to learn about our history, and the history of the country we are going to. And they should make it more easy to get a visa to visit a European country. For us it is very difficult and it takes a long time to get a visa, just to visit another country. For the Europeans it is quite easy to get a visa for Namibia. If they could change something about that, it would also help our youth to develop as human beings.

AGYI: What is your plan for the future?

Uerijeta Kuhanga: To plan a future… You only know where you are coming from, but not where you are going to. But, I believe that the German language is a part from my future because when I go back to Namibia I want to translate from my language into German. I still have 9 month left to learn the language better. I will take it step by step.

AGYI: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.

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Lenin Kazoba from the Tanzania Youth Coalition:

"Our goal is to speak with one voice, to cooperate with our partners of the steering committee and to take part in the process of decision taking."